1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sliding type magnetic head assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sliding type magnetic head assembly for use in an external memory apparatus of an electronic computer; a magnetic memory apparatus and a magneto-optical recording/reproducing apparatus, used as a recording/reproducing apparatus for music, video signals and other information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a magnetic head of a sliding type has been mainly used for recording on magnetic tapes and flexible magnetic disks. In recent years, a mini disk (hereinafter, referred to as "MD") has been popularized as a magneto-optical information storage medium for storing music data. The MD includes a sliding film and needs a sliding type magnetic head. The sliding type magnetic head realizes an overwrite operation by modulating magnetic fields.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-132060 discloses a sliding type magnetic head for magneto-optical recording. The magnetic head slides on a storage medium at the start and end of the disk rotation. The magnetic head includes a slider whose bottom surface is flat. The bottom surface is made of a resin having lubricative properties and excellent abrasion resistance, so as to prevent the magnetic head slider and the magneto-optical information storage medium from being abraded and damaged.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 55-22296 discloses a suspension applicable to the conventional magnetic head. The suspension includes a gimbal for allowing the slider to follow the surface of the rotating disk and a load beam for generating a load to press the slider on the disk.
During the process for assembling the conventional magnetic head, several problems have arisen: the first one is that the load beam and the gimbal should be welded by a spot welding, and the gimbal and the slider should be bonded together; and the second one is that a precise locational restriction between the gimbal and the slider is required to maintain their mechanism, and also between the slider and the load beam via the gimbal to maintain the locational precision of a magnetic core.
Thus, the fabrication of the gimbal is extremely costly because it requires precise processing, resulting in a rise in the cost of the magnetic head assembly. Furthermore, the load beam requires a bending process for producing a rigid part and precise control of the deformation process to provide an appropriate load, also resulting in a rise in the cost of the magnetic head assembly.